Cultured

Wow, that must have been the first really long lie in for a long time - 10am - shocking! However, I always feel I have wasted most of the day when I get up late because weekends are so precious. Yet we got ourselves together as we had decided the previous night we were going to be cultured.

The Terracotta Warriors were on exhibit at the Museum of Natural Science, and since I had never seen them when they were in London I had it on my list of things to see. All the museums in Houston are located in the Museum District that is right beside a large park called, Hermann Park. We used Stuart's GPS to navigate us there as I am fine to get to the general vicinity but can get a little lost at the final stage of journey around the museums. I grumbled about the all day $10 parking fee - because in Houston it is very uncommon to have to pay for parking. The exhibit was not not cheap to see, but we noticed, as with the parking, you get a significant discount if you are a member. So we are now members of the Natural Science Museum and can go and visit the general exhibits for free, and we have got back 50% of the membership fee already (plus parking now only cost $5!!)

The Terracotta Warriors exhibit was smaller than that in London, but still pretty impressive when you think of how the warriors made, displayed, hidden for 1000's of years and then only rediscovered or rather uncovered in 1974. Stu and I got photographed standing next to first emperor of China (we weren't allowed any photographs inside the exhibit unfortunately). We also checked out the gem display - lots of shiny rocks is like heaven for me and then had a quick look through the dinosaurs and fossil displays. Stuart nearly got eaten by a T-Rex!

The great thing is there is still more to see, but we didn't have to, because we can come back for free another time! We then went for a walk around Hermann Park. I showed him the Miller Outdoor Theatre where we are going to watch an Abba tribute band in November and then we saw the boating pond. I have never seen this before, but you are required to wear life jackets on a pedalo!!! We walked past the zoo, but it was hoaching with kids so we will have to come back later in the year earlier in the day and probably when it is a bit cooler. Stuart was struggling with the heat a bit, but at least he could walk under the trees while I enjoyed the sun!

I was desperate to go to the nail bar so poor Stu had to entertain himself for an hour while I went and got pampered! Afterwards I took him to Central Market, the supermarket with all the wonderful cheeses! However, we didn't buy any cheese but picked up flour and yeast so Stu can try and bake bread. Oh and we saw one of the olive oil Angus sells in his shops!

It must be getting close to Halloween.